Dominate the Country

Chapter 618 Zhu Fu

The wind was to the southeast, and the hurricane that had been raging for half the night was gone. The main mast of the Mir, which was devastated by the violent storm for half the night, was broken, and the secondary mast was also broken. All the sails fell down, and the entire sailboat became like a bald man. But fortunately, they finally survived the danger last night, withstood the test of nature, and successfully saw the sun jumping out of the sea in the east this morning.

It's so beautiful.

Xie Qinggao had never seen such a beautiful rising sun, and for the first time he truly experienced the vitality of the rising sun.

The sailboat moved slowly with the water, and its general direction was towards Ceylon.

The captain called on the crew to repair the ship as much as possible, hoist a small sail, and increase power.

Then two hours later they saw a green patch of land, but it could have been a large island.

The violent hurricane last night actually blew them so far off course, dozens of kilometers southward. But no matter what, heading east and south, the green land was waving at them. Everyone cheered. After docking, the ship could undergo major repairs, although the damage was so serious that it forced the captain to change his target - to Colombo in the west of Ceylon, which was the territory of the Dutch.

The Mir had to enter a regular shipyard for repairs on the main mast and secondary mast. This was no longer something that the carpenters and blacksmiths on the ship could do. They even thought about contacting the Dutch through the indigenous people on this land and asking the Dutch for help with money.

——This can make it faster.

A small island was also discovered on the left front, but some people thought it was a sandbar. This kind of extremely shallow water depth or sand dunes directly exposed to the sea can often be seen in the Palk Strait. They are very eye-catching on the dark blue ocean background.

The ship stayed away from the sand dunes and moved closer to the larger land.

Then at eleven o'clock in the morning, the crew found that the water depth here was becoming different.

Some are thirty feet long, while others are only fifteen or sixteen feet long. Everyone is praying that the ship can reach the shore smoothly instead of being helplessly stranded in shallow water.

But the Mir's luck seemed to have run out. Just as they were about to reach the coast, the Mir ran aground. It was a piece of white rock, probably a coral reef, which happened to be where the Mir was stuck.

The crew used a plumb bob to measure the water depth at the bow of the ship, which was only less than four meters. The deepest part around the ship is the stern, which is a full seven meters.

It is only a short four miles away from the coastline.

"Lower the longboat."

The crew members on the ship began to get busy. Xie Qinggao watched as they lowered the sails, put down the large boats and small boats, and rowed the boats to measure the surrounding water depth. It was discovered that the water depth on the right side of the stern, a distance from the hull, suddenly increased to more than ten meters.

The captain asked people to use cables to tie the anchor and anchor chain down there, but it was of no use. The ship was still stuck and motionless.

The ship began to discard a large amount of debris, cleaning out ballast stones and some dead and injured horses, as well as feed, ironware and some unused food, all of which were discarded to reduce the weight of the ship as much as possible.

There was no water entering the bottom of the boat during this period, but you must know that when the tide comes, the boat will further hit the rocks, and the bottom of the boat is likely to leak.

When the high tide came, the captain tried to pull up the ship again, but failed, and the ship remained motionless. But soon the ship took on water, and the water pump on the ship began to operate.

As night falls, the water waves are calm and the sea breeze seems to be much lighter.

The boats sent out by the captain came back one after another, but no ships or natives were found.

The two main bow anchors were lowered to the stern, tied to the anchor chains with pulleys, and the reel ropes were tied tightly at the stern.

The next morning the tide rose again and the inflow began to increase. The other two pumps on the ship also started working.

The vessel reset itself, but the water began to enter faster. In serious cases, the pumping speed cannot match the water inflow, which is a very dangerous sign.

The people on the ship were very afraid of this situation, because it meant that the ship's hull would float, and complete destruction might be waiting for them.

But Mir had no other choice but to pull the ship up at all costs. Otherwise, they don't know how long it will take to board here. It has been two days and not a single ghost has been seen. Xie Qinggao's mission cannot be delayed.

The Mir must enter the Dutch dock as soon as possible, so that Xie Qinggao can quickly take other ships to Jinghai. So the captain moved as many people as possible from the pump to the winch. The ship floated at noon that day, and the captain immediately pulled the ship into deep water. At this time, the water in the cabin had exceeded a depth of three feet.

The captain pulled up another anchor, and then sent everyone to pump out water. It was not until the speed of pumping out water caught up with the speed of incoming water in the evening that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the first time that Xie Qinggao saw the repair work of Western-style sailboats. Their repair procedures were completely copied from the foreigners' methods, which was to chop linen and wool into fine pieces, then stir them together, and cut them one by one. Stick it evenly on the entire canvas, sprinkle horse manure on it, and drag the finished canvas to the bottom of the boat with a rope.

If you can determine the location of the leak, just slap it on, and it will be very effective; but if you can't determine the location of the leak, then you have to try and search for it bit by bit. Once you find it, it will be effective soon.

When the canvas was attached to the bottom of the boat, the wool and linen would be washed up by the water, and some of them would be swept into the holes by the water, which would naturally reduce the leakage. When the water at the bottom of the cabin was almost drained, the wooden boards and nails would come in handy.

Relying on this method, the Peace was towed all the way to Colombo, a city built by the Portuguese and later occupied by the Dutch.

It is known as the "crossroads of the East" and is a very important city on the East-West exchange route. The Dutch built a medium-sized shipyard here, which can fully provide everything needed to repair the Peace.

Xie Qinggao can also take the express boat to Jinghai from here.

The two holes in the bottom of the boat were blocked by two ugly patches, but such repairs could not withstand the ravages of strong winds and waves. The ribs of the Peace were likely to be damaged, and the reef did not only pierce the outer plate. Some of the bow covering materials were also missing, and part of the protective keel became fragmented, which was worse than nothing.

In general, the trauma caused by the accidental grounding to the Peace was no less than the damage caused by the previous hurricane.

So although it was very regrettable, the Peace could no longer fulfill its mission.

In Colombo, in this Dutch port, Xie Qinggao heard the news of the Surabaya incident as soon as possible. Of course, he also got help from Chinese businessmen as soon as possible.

A sailing ship that came to transport spring tea immediately decided to go out to sea and send Xie Qinggao to Jinghai.

How great was the impact of the news of the outbreak of the Anglo-French War on the situation in the Far East? Considering his own profession, Xie Qinggao felt that this news would have a huge impact on China.

Britain and France officially went to war, and Spain also followed France to intervene in the war, which meant that Westerners could no longer pose a threat to China on the issue of Nanyang. Their strength could not be combined.

As long as the four countries of Britain, France, the Netherlands and Spain did not hug each other, China did not need to consider any external reasons.

If it was about the Dutch in Batavia, China still needed to consider the feelings of the British-because Britain was China's largest trading partner. Then, if China's Nanyang Navy launched an offensive against the Spaniards in Manila, the British would probably be excited.

Anyway, the Spanish sailing trade has long been made into a chicken rib, tasteless to eat, and a pity to abandon. If China loses it, it's not rare.

In this way, compared with the offensive of the entire Nanyang, the influence of the Surabaya incident that just ended is really ordinary.

If China quickly launched an attack on the Spaniards, wouldn't it be more shocking than a small Yogyakarta?

Xie Qinggao, lying in the cabin, even thought of the Spanish Viceroyalty in America. If you don't really understand the history of the Spaniards, you don't know how rich this decadent and declining capital is.

In North America, it shares the world with Britain and France; in South America, it shares the world with Portugal.

Spain and Portugal, the two pioneering countries that opened the European Age of Exploration, are still enjoying the rich legacy of their ancestors.

Xie Qinggao didn't know why Britain and France didn't fight against the wealthy South America. With the current national strength of Spain and Portugal, they would not be the opponents of Britain and France. Although Brazil was not very important in Portugal's colonial territory at first, it has now become the center of Portugal's colonial empire, especially because it has accumulated a large amount of gold, gems, sugar cane, coffee and grain. Portugal also traded black slaves here, which led to a sharp increase in the population of Brazil and began to embark on a path of rapid development.

As a Chinese who only has strength in his eyes, Xie Qinggao, regardless of whether he stands high or far, is salivating for Spain's colonies in Luzon and North America.

How much food can these fertile places produce if they are handed over to the Chinese.

Of course, Xie Qinggao was also quite discouraged. He came back too late. By the time the news of the war between Britain and France was spread to China, the negotiations between China and Britain and China and Russia had already ended, and even the Surabaya incident, which was the closest, should have come to an end.

How many days can the little Yogyakarta natives be strong in front of China?

If the Sultan of the Tianfang Sect had been really tough, the Dutch would not have lived such a comfortable life in Batavia.

A deep sense of loss rose in his heart.

Xie Qinggao felt that he was a person who had worked hard to get to the theater. He had put in so much effort and was really rewarded - he entered the theater, but there was no one on the stage. It was over!

This was too sad!

Xie Qinggao once again hated the backward means of information transmission. He even wondered if there was a second "Xie Qinggao" who was struggling in the desert because something important had happened in Europe.

For example, the naval battle between Britain, France and Spain, for example, facing the armed protests of the Russians, London's attitude towards the armed neutrality alliance...

Xie Qinggao had no idea that when he was advancing rapidly towards Jinghai, the Surabaya incident was really over. A large number of Chinese regular troops - the Marine Corps had already retreated from Yogyakarta with a full load of spoils.

Hamenggu Buwono II didn't act like a hero in the end. He just signed his name on the agreement. Although he already knew the identity of the Chinese businessman he let go.

Not only Hamenggu Buwono II was dumbfounded, but also Glit was dumbfounded.

Compensation, apology, it can be said that the Sultan of Yogyakarta threw his face and dignity on the ground and was rubbed again and again by China. But the Sultan of Yogyakarta's foundation is still there.

Watson also finally refused to sign the agreement on Nanyang. He could not give up the Netherlands. Naturally, the agreement on the protection of interests in Bengal, which London was very eager to get, was not reached. But the two sides still submitted agreements on other aspects, but they felt a bit rootless and very, very insecure.

Watson sent people to London again.

After a series of eight talks, China and Russia spent three months and finally finalized a peace agreement between them-the Sino-Russian Nanjing Peace Agreement.

The Russians lost all the land they have lost now, the coastal area on the north bank of the Heilongjiang River, the Lake Baikal area, the border line along the Tannu Uriankhai...

There are also a large amount of military expenses, and soldiers captured by China.

A typical case of stealing chickens and losing rice, Russia has experienced the biggest failure and the most painful lesson since Catherine II ascended the throne. But Russia can only endure it silently.

All the agreements that should be signed have been settled, and even the second overseas exploration bureau, which was under great pressure, suddenly received good news in Nanjing.

Its exploration ship discovered the Honolulu Islands in the center of the vast North Pacific.

There are endless sandalwood trees on the islands there, which are boundless. It is a huge treasure.

When Zhu Fu's ship went north from Zhujia Island and discovered the Hawaiian Islands in the previous time and space, their initial attention was more focused on the local natives.

These natives have black hair, which is straight or wavy, and their bodies are very tall, much larger than those monkeys in the South Sea. Their skin color is not as dark as those monkeys in the South Sea. The ruling class tends to marry close relatives and practice polygamy and polyandry, especially among the leaders. Status is mainly inherited through the maternal line. The unit of land is "Ahu Pua", which often extends from the coast to the top of the mountain. The jurisdiction includes the nearby seawater, so the landowner has the means to provide everything needed, such as fish in the sea, coconuts in the coastal areas, taro, their main food, in the valley, sweet potatoes, yams and bananas on the low slopes, and wood on the mountains.

The civilization here is quite low-level, there is no writing, and all knowledge is preserved and passed on to future generations through sacrifices. There are four main gods and countless minor gods and guardian gods, and the population is not large. There is no metal and pottery, and the level of civilization is really low. There is no animal power available. Tools, weapons and utensils are made of stone, wood, shells, teeth and bones. The house is a wooden structure, grass roof, stone floor, and mat. Food is cooked in a cave using hot stones; but many foods, including fish, are eaten raw.

These are savages who are worse than the black monkeys in Southeast Asia, a group of uncivilized savages. Then they discovered countless sandalwood forests.

Zhu Fu had not yet realized how important the geographical location of this archipelago was, but he was very clear about the value of the sandalwood growing there.

If this discovery was reported to the country and confirmed, all the crew members would become rich overnight just by sharing the profits.

However, what was more depressing was that they encountered two British exploration ships here, and the person leading them was actually the famous Cook. Moreover, it was better to arrive early than to arrive late. When these British ships arrived in Honolulu, they happened to catch up with the local indigenous people celebrating the "Makahiki Festival". This festival is a festival for local indigenous people to worship the Polynesian god Longnuo and celebrate the harvest. Coincidentally, the mast, sails and rigging of the Resolution are similar to some handicrafts used for festival sacrifices; plus before Cook and his party landed, they circled the Hawaiian Island clockwise, and it happened that the team worshiping Longnuo also cruised around the island clockwise. A series of coincidences caused some islanders to mistake Cook, the captain of the Resolution, for Long Nuo. For a time, they worshipped him and even some of his entourage as gods. The local tribal elders gave Cook a helmet and a cloak to highlight his lofty status in the eyes of the islanders.

Zhu Fu's eyes were red with hatred, but the British let out a sigh of relief. The depression caused by the Christmas Island incident completely disappeared at this moment, and the will of heaven made them feel extremely happy at this moment.

So Zhu Fu chose to leave immediately. He was worried that Cook would use his great influence among the island natives to find trouble with them. And considering the number of people, ships, cannons, etc., Zhu Fu was at a disadvantage.

Zhu Fu left Honolulu and headed northeast to the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlement in Upper California. In early February, he arrived in the coastal waters of Oregon. He ordered the ship to dock for a few days to repair and survive the bad weather. After that, when the weather returned to normal, he went north along the coast and sailed into the Nootka Strait in the west of Vancouver Island on the previous plane, and finally stopped near a village belonging to the Nootka tribe in Yugu.

The expedition ship docked in a small bay in the Nootka Strait. This small bay was an iconic place in the next two hundred years of this plane. It was called Happiness Bay.

After Zhu Fu's expedition ship docked, he communicated with the local indigenous people. They exchanged metal products that the locals were interested in for sea otter fur. Although the two sides had some unpleasant experiences, the relationship between the two sides was still harmonious. Then on the seventh day of the expedition ship's docking, Zhu Fu saw another ship with a red flag flying...

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